From the Field

Project Management Part 1: What is project management and why should it matter to Creatives?

A creative department stocked with good people attracts other good people who want to work on that team.

If you are like pretty much every other creative leader on the planet, you are being asked (told) to do more with fewer (human) resources. While this poses a number of challenges, there are several things you can do to help keep your team and yourself somewhat sane. Many in-house teams do not charge back […]

There are many similarities between change management and team sports. Sports metaphors can be great motivators. Nike’s Just Do It campaign is still at it and always changing. Under Armour isn’t only worn under anymore. These are teamwork examples of forward-thinking marketing opportunities, which discover untapped opportunities to build cultural and community awareness.

With 17 years experience as an in-house design expert, I have noticed how many of these teams face similar challenges from the very organisations they sit within. It can be a frustrating partnership where neither party communicates particularly well with each other. Designers don’t understand business. Internal clients don’t understand design. This leads to the design team requests often falling into the “make it look pretty” category.

You’re ready to hire a copywriter. Congratulations! Or, you’ve tried over and over again to find the perfect wordsmith only to fail miserably each time. To that I say - it’s you, not them.

I believe the trick to being a great creative leader is to remain centered. No, I don’t mean the center of attention. Far too many managers and directors have gone down that path in a flaming blaze of egotistical glory. By centered, I’m talking about the realization that to be effective, you need to be […]

For a couple of years my team and I slaved away on a soft drink product. At first the work was a lot of fun – we had some pretty big wins, pushed the comfort zone of our internal clients. Then the great ideas, that were once so abundant, became fleeting or were killed in […]

An oft repeated question, “do you have a job description?” made me realize that people have a hard time verbalizing what they do and what they want when hiring a new employee.